High School Football: A big game for BC

Edison's Marcus Epps intercepts a pass for a pick-six in the first half against Huntington Beach at Huntington Beach High on Friday.

Don Leach / HB Independent

Don Leach / HB Independent

Mike Sciacca

It was down the road a bit but couldn't be ignored, that game that was scheduled Oct. 18 for the Brethren Christian High football team.

On Friday, the Warriors play their biggest game to date this season, and against their toughest opponent yet, when they play host to St. Margaret's in a key Academy League tilt at Ocean View High.

Both teams come into the 7 p.m. game streaking. The Tartans, the top-ranked team all season long in the CIF Southern Section East Valley Division, have won their first six games. The Warriors have won four-straight following a season-opening loss.

To get to Friday's big date, BC Coach Pat McInally said his team first had to concentrate on its first five games of the season.

"Our focus has been on getting better each week, and winning, leading up to this game," he said. "Only then, could we turn our attention to St. Margaret's. And, I think we've done that."

BC started its Academy League schedule Friday and routed league newcomer Calvary Chapel Downey, 55-0. Quarterback Jack McInally rushed for a touchdown and threw two scoring passes to both junior running back Andrew Assaf and senior receiver Austin Gorrell, and one to junior receiver Brandon Bryson.

McInally (10 of 15) threw for 272 yards with Bryson getting 112 and Gorrell 105 of those yards.

Offensive lineman Will Martin, who also plays defensive end, had a thrilling and memorable moment to start the second half. Inserted as a returner for the second-half kickoff, all Martin did was run back the kick 77 yards to the house to extend BC's lead to 41-0.

McInally said Martin was put in for the kickoff return team due to "all of his hard work at offensive tackle."

"What a moment to open the second half," McInally said. "He'll never forget that one."

The shutout was the first of the year for the BC defense, which in the past two weeks has surrendered only six points.

"I was impressed with our aggressiveness on defense, especially with our front seven," Pat McInally said. "Our secondary played really well and tackled well. On offense, our line is getting better, week by week, and that's a great sign."

St. Margaret's hasn't been challenged in its first six games. The Tartans have outscored the opposition, 255-63. Offensively, they have scored 40 or more points in four of six games (a high game of 56), and have scored more than 30 points in five games.

The Tartans opened defense of the Academy League title last week by disposing of Sage Hill, 48-7, for their 28th-consecutive league win. Senior quarterback Josh Davis threw for a touchdown and along with junior running back Oscar Gomez, rushed for two scores.

Davis, an all-league player who committed last month to Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., finished with 196 passing yards. Gomez, the league's Offensive MVP last year, ran for 133 yards.

"Obviously, they are a very good football team," McInally said. "They are No. 1 in our [CIF] division, and have played very well."

The winner of Friday's game takes a big step toward the Academy League championship. McInally, however, says his team has several more games to play following the showdown.

"Our whole season won't be defined by this game," he said. "Our program has been improving and it's come a long way. However, the kids are really looking forward to this game and this challenge.

"Our two team goals are to win league, and win in the [CIF] playoffs. We've never beaten St. Margaret's and it's been a long time since we've won in the playoffs."

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Thursday

Santa Ana (0-6, 0-1) vs. Ocean View (0-6, 0-1)

(7 p.m., Ocean View High)

Either the Saints or Seahawks will walk off the field late-Thursday with that first victory when the teams meet in the second week of the Golden West League season.

Ocean View was edged, 24-21, in its GWL opener last week by Loara. The Seahawks trailed, 24-7, midway through the fourth quarter before sophomore quarterback Blake Meyer and junior receiver Hector Calderon hooked up on 76- and 30-yard touchdown passes to pull the Seahawks to within 24-21.

"We simply ran out of time Friday night," Ocean View Coach Luis Nunez said. "We are finally healthy at key positions and I am happy with the growth of a lot of kids.

"Defensively, other than a few late-second quarter coverage mistakes, we were lights out. Defensive coordinator Chris Estrada has the defense playing its best football of the year. The kids are more confident in what they are doing and the growth of many juniors defensively, such as Kevin Martinez, Jerred Vogt, and sophomore Alejandro Valdez, has sparked the defense. Senior Andrew Bradberry disrupted Loara all night long."

Meyer also threw a 54-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game to junior receiver Tyler Clay, and finished with 241 passing yards.

"Offensively, we struggled to get the ground game going and had costly penalties that neglected a few long runs," Nunez said. "Blake Meyer continues to improve and is starting to prove to defenses that he can make them pay if they don't respect the pass game.

"We simply just need to keep grinding and play four quarters of relentless football to get that first 'W' this week. Santa Ana is also looking for their first win and there is no doubt they will be just as hungry."

The Saints are coming off a 55-21 loss in their league opener to Orange, and have given up 48 or more points in five of six games.

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Friday

Edison (4-2, 1-0) vs. Newport Harbor(3-3, 1-0)

(7 p.m., Newport Harbor High)

In the second week of Sunset League play, at least a share of first place is on the line when the Chargers travel to face the Sailors.

Edison began defense of its Sunset title last week with a resounding, 48-6 victory over Huntington Beach. In the win, the Chargers opened up leads of 13-0 after one quarter, 27-0 at the half, and 34-0 early in the fourth quarter.

A one-yard touchdown plunge by senior running back Tyler Warren started the scoring, and was followed by a 34-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Christian Heffelman to junior receiver Jake Favreau. Junior quarterback Matt Gane, seeing action for the first time since being injured in the Servite game last month, scored on a one-yard run in the second quarter. Thirty-five seconds later, senior defensive back Marcus Epps returned an interception 29 yards for a score.

In the second half, Gane scored his second touchdown on a 49-yard run around right end, Warren scored his second rushing touchdown on a nice, 53-yard run where he found no where to go up the middle, then switched gears at midfield and shot diagonally through the right side where he found an open path to the end zone. Sophomore running back Jacob Marines scored on a 30-yard run with 54 seconds left to finish the game.

The 48 points were the most scored in a game this year by the Chargers.

The Edison defense has now held three of its first six opponents to seven points or less, and has yielded only 13 total points in the last two weeks.

"The kids did a really great job of executing our game plan both on offense and defense," Edison Coach Dave White said. "In the beginning of the season, we didn't do that, so it was great to see such a great effort from our guys.

"[Huntington Beach quarterback] Kai Ross is a great athlete and is having a great year, and our goal was to keep him in check. I thought we did a great job of caging him, which is something that doesn't happen very often."

Newport Harbor squared its overall record last week by rallying for a 27-24 overtime victory over previously undefeated and third-ranked Los Alamitos in another league opener. Quarterback Cole Norris, who threw for 203 yards, completed his 18th pass of the game, a 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime to receiver Cory Stowell, to win the game.

It was the second TD pass between Norris and Stowell in the game as the Sailors knocked off the Griffins in overtime for the second consecutive year.

"That's a big win for them over Los Al," White said. "They are usually a run-oriented team but they are really balanced this year. They have good athletes and they got a big boost of confidence with that win. There's a lot of respect between our programs."

Since rejoining the Sunset League in 2006, Newport Harbor is 0-7 against Edison.

White said that senior running back Marcus Swanigan, out of action since suffering a shoulder injury during the Sept. 27 game against Mater Dei, will be back in the Edison lineup Friday.

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Huntington Beach (3-3, 0-1) vs. Fountain Valley (5-1, 1-0)

(at Huntington Beach High, 7 p.m.)

Fountain Valley looks to stay undefeated in Sunset League action when it takes on a Huntington Beach team that needs a win to keep its title hopes alive.

The Barons won their league opener, 40-14, last week against Marina. All six of the Barons' TDs came on the ground with senior quarterback Scott Schultz rushing for the first three scores. Senior running back Isaiah Davis ran for one score and senior quarterback Travis Hood ran in the final two scores.

Fountain Valley is ranked fourth in this week's CIF Southern Section Southwest Division poll and is on a three-game win streak.

"What pleased me most was that we were able to reduce our penalties in the Marina game," Fountain Valley Coach Ray Fenton said. "We were coming off a bye and for the past two weeks, we were emphasized being more accountable and focused on all the details, of cleaning things up.

"I was really happy with our play. That was the most disciplined we have looked all season."

Huntington, meanwhile, was upended, 48-6, by Edison in the Oilers' homecoming game. Their lone score came on a fourth-down, five-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter from senior quarterback Kai Ross to senior receiver Tucker deCamp who made a great catch in the corner of the end zone before tip-toeing out of bounds.

The loss dropped Huntington, who entered the Edison game ranked No. 8, from the Southwest Division top 10 rankings.

"We had too many missed assignments early in the game and they exploited our mistakes," Huntington Coach Eric Lo said after the loss. "They are a really good football team and we didn't play well, at all.

"Fountain Valley is a really good team that does a lot of things well. They are creative on offense, they have a quarterback [Schultz] with a strong arm, another one [Hood] who runs the ball real well in the wildcat [formation], and they have guys with some speed. Defensively, they fly to the ball.

"This is a really important game for us, and we have to play well."

Despite Huntington's loss last week, Fenton is impressed with the Oilers.

"I think Huntington's an outstanding football team," he said. "They are big, fast, talented, and well-coached. I don't think the Edison score is indicative of this team."

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Los Alamitos (5-1, 0-1) vs. Marina (1-5, 0-1)

(7 p.m., Westminster High)

Marina will attempt to put a halt to a four-game winless streak when it takes on a Los Alamitos team that last week was handed its first loss.

Los Al had won its first five games of the season before stumbling in overtime, 27-24, last week at Newport Harbor, while Marina dropped its fourth-consecutive game and league opener last week, 40-14, to Fountain Valley.

"We played better, but no one can tell," Marina Coach George Pascoe said of the loss. "We must play our best game [Friday] to have a chance. Los Al is going to be Los Al, and we have a chance if we hang in till the end."

Senior quarterback Nick Wendell threw for 261 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a score for Los Al in last week's overtime loss at Newport Harbor.

The Griffins this week are tied with Villa Park at No. 7 in the Southwest Division rankings.